Improvement in machinery for bending wood



moet N sans JAMES nANN, on rnnNoHToWN, 'NEW JERSEY.

Lette/rs Patent No'. 92,187, dated July (i, 1869.

IIMPRQ'VBMENT IN MACHINERY FOR IBENDING WOOD,

The Schedule referred to in thes'e Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To whom.. it may concern Y Beit known that l, JAMES HAvN, of Frenchtown, county of Hunterdon, and State` of N ew Jersey, have invented certain new and-useful'Improvements in Machinos for Bending Wagon-Bows and other Articles; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in-whichf Figure 1 is a perspective view of a machine made in accordance with my invention; l

g Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section; and

Figure 3 is a longitudinal vertical section of the 'allow of the ready removal ot' the former-box without derauging the other parts of the machine.

My inventionfmay bc stated 'in general to consist--4 First, in the combination with the former upon which the wood is bent, of vibratory toothed sectors, canying the rolls, (whether the saine be adjustable-or not,) by which the wood Vis pressed into shape, and actuated by the means herein described, or their mechanical equivalent, to move around the former.

Second, in the. combination with Vthe sectors, when provided with tubular journals, which are supported in suitable bearings in the frame of the machine, of the former-box, held upon the axis of said sectors, by means'of pins, or rods passing intoaud supported by the`tubular journals, whereby, whenever desired, the box can be released, by removing the pins,l without disturbing the position of the sectors.A

Third, in' thc employment, for the purpose of supporting the sectors, ci' movable flames, capable ot' being adjusted longitudinally, to conform to the size ci' the former.

Fourth, in the employment of a Lsectional formen' box, capablev of being extended or contracted,accord-v ing to the sizeof the wood, as hereinatter described.

Sixth', in the combination of the vibratory sectorsv and their adjustable frames, and the sectional former box, capable of being contracted or extended, as above specified.

' `To enable others skilledfin the art tonnderstand and use my invention, I'wll proceed to describe the manner in which the same is or may bey carried into effect, by reference to .the accompanying drawings.

The main frame A ot' the machine can be made of any suitable size'and shape, to receive the wood-bending devices, and it supports the metal frames B, which constitute the bearings for the toothed sectors C.

VAt each'end ofthe .former-box D is a pair of Ithese sectors, the former-box being' located between the two sectors of each pair, or set, and supported in such position'by means of a piu, or rod, a, at each end of the box, which'extends thronghthe metal frames B, box D, land the tubular journals b of the sectors, which are hung inbearingsiu the metal frames.

lUnder this arrangement, it will be noticed that the sectors have a support entirely distinct from that of the box, so that when the pins a are withdrawn, the

latter can be removed without'at all disturbing the.

other mechanism. i

The sectors of-each pair are connected by cross-bars fc, -in such manner as to admit of their extended movement, without interfering with the former-box, and

they are driven by a. train of toothed wheels, a: y z, or

invany other suitable manner. l

. `Extending across upon the upper part of the sectors, at each end of the machine, is the forming, or bendingroller d,1nounted in bearings e, held in slots formed in the arms of the sectors, and adjusted by means of setscrews f.

The rollerthus moves with the sectors, and bends the wood upon the ends of the box, which ends are rounded oli', to follow a circle, of' which the axis ofthe sectors is the centre. In order to admit of the distance between the two pairsof sectors being varied, to accord with the size of the former-box employed, I make the two metal bearings, or frames, B, at either or both ends of the machine, capable ot'being adj usted or moved longitudinally upon the main frame A.

For this purpose, the frames B are so constructed as to carry also the wheels x y zhand their shafts, which thus are moved bodily along with the frames and their sectors.

Any suitable means can be employed to effect the adjustment of the-trames, but I prefer to employ for the purpose 'a rack, g, attached to or forming part of each frame to be adjusted, which engages with a pinion, h, mounted on a shaitextending through the Ina-v chine rom side to side.

ByV rotating the pinion-shaft, the two frames with which it is connected can be simultaneously adj usted, so as toapproach or recede from the set ot' frames at the other end of the machine, according to. the size of the box to be employed.

Again, in order to olviate the necessity of keeping on hand former-boxes of diierent sizes, to correspond with the varying dimensions of the bent articlesto be produced, I make the formenbox in sections, so that it can be extended or contracted at pleasure.

The sections may be made to extend or contract in many ways, but that represented in the drawings I consider to be much the most preferable.

. As then represented, the former-box -is composed of two ctious, which are united by a dovetailed tongue and groove-joint, fi lc, so that they may be slid apart or toward each other, according as it is required to lengthen or shorten the former..`

'lhe sections are held apart to the desired extent, by means of wedges Z, as shown i'n lig. 1.

By thus constructing the box, it may be made to answer for any size ot' wagon-bow, or like article.

As hereinbefore mentioned, metal plates are applied to those points on the wooden strips which are likely to split or break at any time during .the bending-process.

These plates are shown atm. There is one at each end of the former-box, applied to the exterior of the bows n, at the point where they are bent, by the formerroller, around the curved ends of the box.

In order to hold them in place, the end of each plate which is located beneath the bx, is bent around or secured to a rod, o, whose ends fit in hooks formed in straps, or 4hanging-arms 1), which extend up on the outside of thebox, and are secured toa bar, and fittedl or secured to the box, so as to be capable of moving up and down. l l

Under the bar lr isa fixed piece, s, and, by driving wedges t between thel two, the movable bar can be raised, so as to draw up the straps @the hooked ends ot' which hold the rod o and end ofthe plate m firmly against the bows fn., and hold the bows themselves in position to be acted on by the forming, or bendingrollers.

By knocking out the wedges t, the straps p will drop, and the plates can be readily removed.

These plates are applied while the bows are yet unbent, and as the forming-rollers, moving with the sectors', force up the bows around the former-box, they press against the plates m, which are thus bent with the bows, and prevent the latter from being damaged in any way. l Y

When the bows and plates are fully bent lup, they areheldin position by the hooked clasps c, which pass around them, and catch over pins on the box.

To clamp the upper end ofthe plate andbows, I makeuse of the device shown in iig. 1. It consists of a hooked and slotted frame, a', the side-pieces of which have formed at their ends hooks, or bearings, to receive a removable, holding-rod, b'.

Between the rod and the front of the frame a' is a sliding clamp-plate, c, whose journals are held in longitudinal slots in the sides ofthe frame, and this clampplate is actuated by means of the thumb-screw al.

To use the device, the rod b is removed,.and the frame placed so as to bring the plate m and wagonbows against the` clamp-plate and between the sides of the 'ame.

' The'rodis then replaced in its open hooked bearings, and, by turning the .thumb-screw (l, the clamp'- ing-plate c is caused to advance, so as to hold the bovls'and protecting-plate firmly between it and the ro Tile device is exceedingly simple in construction and convenient for use, and the plate o' is free to turn on its journals, so as to accommodate itself to the posioai-1 tion of the plate m and bows, and to exercise an even pressure upon them.

The method described 'of constructing the pairs of sectors which carry the bending-rollers, and of combining with them the former-box, is very advantageous.

The sectors have a considerable range of movement without interfering at all with the box, or preventing the ready insertion of the bows under the box, preparatory to bending them, and by imparting to each sector a positive'movement, by means of the drivinggear, the bending-rollers are moved evenly and with` out danger of lateral twist or strain. Y

The advantages resulting from the adj ustability of the bearings of the sectors, as well as from the adjustability of lthe box,.are apparent, and l desire to repeat, that while preferring the means of adjustment herein illustrated, I do not limit myself to such speciiic means, as other and modified arrangements for eiecting the same result may obviously be made.

vWhat I claim, therefore, as my invention, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

l. The combination of the former upon which the wood is bent, and a set or pair of vibratory toothed ing, or bending-rolls, and actuated to move around the ends of the. former, said pal/ts being constructed and 4arranged to operate substantially as and for ther purposesA set -forth. y

2. The toothed sectors and bearings, in which their former-box and pins, or rods passing through the formerbox, and into or through the tubular journals of the sectors, arranged to operate substantially as described, whereby the box can berelcased, by removing the pins, without disturbing the position ofthe sectors.

3. The employment, for the purpose of supporting capable of being adjusted longitudipally, so as to conform to the size of the former-box, substantially as vshown and described.r

4. The sectional former-box, or frame, constructed ,and arranged substantially as shown and described, so as to be extended or contracted, to conform to the size of the article to be bent, as set forth. y

5. The combination oi' the vibratory sectors, their adjustable frames, or bearings, and the sectional formerbox, arranged to be contracted or. extended, as herein described, under the arrangement substantially as specified.

6. The arrangement in the adjustable or movable frames, or bearings, which support the toothed sectors, of the driving-gear, by which such sectors are actuated, substantially asset forth.

7 Supporting the metal plates lm, bymeans of straps, or arms, which hang from a bar arrangedin or upon the former-box, so as to be raised or lowered, and thereby hold or release the end of `thesaid meta-l plates, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, before two subscribing witnesses.

, JAMES -H-ANN.

Witnesses N. D. WiLLIAMs, E. G. WiLLIAMs.

sectors, at each end of the former, carrying the formtubular journals are held, in combination with -thc' the toothed sectors, of 4movable bearings, or frames, 

